AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

INDIA’S DIVERGE RELIGION AND SECULARISM IN 2020- A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Mr. K. Palaniswamy 1 & Ms. G. Priyadharshini 2

1. Assistant Professor, School Of Excellence In Law, The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University.

2. III Year B.COM, LL.B (HONS) B Section, School Of Excellence In Law, The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University.

[email protected] 2. [email protected]

ABSTRACT India is prestigious for its secular notion since, it is the pride of the nation for having freedom to follow religion of their own choice. The era of independent India although inserted the conception of ‘secularism’ only after three decades through the forty-second amendment, it had its essence embedded in the constitutional philosophy under Article 25, 26 and 27. The multi-religious country strived a lot for freedom, so that peace exists in India. Orderly, the constituent assembly enacted such provisions as law, that is necessary for establishing peace in the country. Even though peace exists in India at large, to some extent religious violence stand as a wall of hindrance for attaining peace in the country to the fullest. State, being an essential element of the nation is responsible for the acts of the statesman and also to uphold the law of the land without prejudicing the provisions. State, while legislating a law, has to be within its constitutional boundaries and more importantly ensure Justice to all communities. The democratic country is filled with divergent religious group and it is due to the virtue of law, religious riots and violence had taken place since the three-partition plan of 1947. The paper makes a detailed discussion about secularism, its pros and cons and also several instances of violence are specified. These riots and violence are not meant to be a threat to secularism but, in fact it due to the virtue of law that is to be understood. The paper suggests some reforms that are necessarily needed to sustain peace in the country. In this way, there is a need for an amendment of the constitutional provision of Article 25(2)(b) and also a universal definition of secularism in order to attain consistency. The paper also suggests the ideology of attaining the Uniform Civil Code for India. Thus, Indiabeing the land for various religious communities and the countryman is obliged to keep-up the word of honour, to live in brotherhood and sustain ‘unity and integrity’ of the nation.

-INTRODUCTION-

The configuration of India’s Constitution is an embodiment of sovereignty, secularism, democracy and equalitythat compiled India, a dignified constitutional republic to be the second most popular country in the world. Highlighting the country’s popularity, religious tolerance 3 is the key element of India’s secularism since,instil tolerance and co-existence is very essential for a country with at least

3https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/51963/6/06_chapter%201.pdf

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12 religions, over 300 castes, nearly 4000sub-castes and more than 100 languages. At heart, in India secularism is a way of life. The popularity of India’s secularism protects the interest of religious ethos without any discrimination, for the cultural development of different religious and minority communities. The aim of the constitution of India is not meant to differentiate the citizens based on religion, rather it strives to maintain equality prohibiting discrimination to every religious groups. But the concept of secularism was inserted only after three decades of independence. The then late Hon’ble Prime Minister, Indra Gandhi Ji led government enacted a 20 paged document that altered a major part of the constitution that included the words “SOCIALIST, SECULAR” in the preamble thereby giving a new outlook to the constitution. Although, this was not a new concept to be included since it was a debated topic of the constitutional assembly at its inception. But, why didn’t the then Hon’ble Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Ji government include it in the preamble? 4In fact, the discussion over the incorporation of secularism in the preamble took up a large portion of time when the topic was debated in the constituent assembly whose chairman was Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. Prof. K.P. Shah was the one who demanded for the inclusion of the word ‘secular’. But, due to the ensuing discourse envisaging the Indian state, it was dropped. However, with the view laid byDr. Ambedkar and Nehru Ji, the constituent assembly adopted Article 25,26 and 27 with the intention of furthering secularism. Hence, in order to safeguard the democracy of the people, it was not formally inserted in the constitution but embedded in the constitutional philosophy. However, as the time demands, the forty- second amendment formally inserted the words “socialist, secular” in the preamble at the time of Hon’ble Indira Gandhi’s rule. 5 2.-REAL MEANING OF SECULARISM -

“The sole religion of the Government is Nation First, the holy book is the constitution.” – says the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Sir .The Preamble of the country’s Constitution states it to be ‘SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC’ and ‘UNITY AND INTEGRITY’ is the aim of India. Therefore, akin the sayings of BJP leader, India is made to be a secular country since its independence. The first user of the word “secularism”, Sir George Holyoake (1851), a British writer, says that ‘the invention was of the view of promoting social order separate from religion, without actively dismissing or criticising religious belief.’ The word ‘secularism’ maintains that there is light and guidance in secular truth, whose conditions and sanctions exists independently and acts forever. 6 Thus, the real meaning of secularism is the absence of ties between religious belief of the state and the government. Whereas, in India some provisions of the constitution itself allows the state to have control of certain religious temples, charities and trusts and also provides for the collection of tax. Despite India adopting itself to be united and integrated, it accepted and protected the interest of various religions of the country. The arguments of many scholar disputes whether India is really a secular nation. Besides, ‘is India a pseudo-secular country?’ is another query that is under discourse. The forty-second amendment of 1976, asserted India to be a secular nation in the Preamble of the constitution. According to India, unlike western countries, secularism does not mean the separation of religion and state. Instead, it means the separation of religion from politics 7. More clearly, it means supporting or participating in a neutral manner in the religious affairs of the country. In fact, the VII schedule of the Indian constitution places religious institutions and charitable trust endowments in the

4https://indianexpress.com/article/research/anant-kumar-hegde-secularism-constitution-india-bjp-jawaharlal- nehru-indira-gandhi-5001085/ 5 It is to be noted that the forty second amendment was enacted, when the PM Mrs. Gandhi declared emergency on June 26 th , 1975 through an All India Radio. 6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism 7 Ruled in a seven-judge constitutional bench – Abhiram Singh vs. C.D.Commachan& others

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concurrent list.8Although, this created overlap between the state and religion which resulted in the state support to various religious schools and personal laws.Religious law in personal domain, supersede parliamentary laws in India. This make us think whether India is really fit to be a secular country. However, the country is prestigious for its traditions and cultural belief thus proving its esteem. 3.-SHORT HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SECULARISM- Sir Jawaharlal Nehru, the giant leader of freedom struggle, formed the interim government on September 3, 1946 looking for a secular and economic base giving a modern outlook to the country. Though he opposed the proposal of partition of the country based on religion, he was in the position to accept the 3-partition plan, that was an inevitable programme of June 1947. 9 Consequently, on August 15 th , 1947, India and became separated as two independent countries. After India came to be an independent domain, the constitutional leaders, wanted the country to be a home for all religion. They wanted the state not to indulge in any religious affairs of the country at the same time, in order to maintain peace among the multi-religious people gave some state power as a restriction under Article 25(2). The prolonged epoch of the constitutional draft discussed a lot on secular country for India. Initially the word was not included but, the 42 nd amendment explicitly added the word ‘secular’ in the preamble. However, the essence of secularism was present implicitly, prior the amendment, through various provisions like right to freedom of religion, Article 14, Article 15, Article 16, Article 25, Article 26, Article 27, Article 28 and Article 325. While Article 25(2) being a restriction, was introduced to maintain harmony among religions, but it has always been used by governments to win their political battle. 4. -REASON FOR THE SEPARATION OF POLITICS AND RELIGION : The impact of India’s diverse religion is an evident fromthe documented history which began with the historical Vedic religion that dated back between 1750 to 500 BCE. 10 The British colonial administration, in order to rule different people of the land divided them on the basis of religion and caste. It is to be noted that the division was in accord with the Western-type Secularism (separation of religion and politics). The colonial era of Indian Independence that separated the domain of India and Pakistan brought the concept of ‘communalism’ 11 in the territorial state. The historical research proves that the unambiguous articulation of the religious group gave way for the importance of religion under the modern governing system. Thus, politics and religion became the two interdependent subsystems of the society that led to the emergence of a modern secular state. The idea of ‘rule by reason’ caused for the reason-governing thought among the milieus who were leading a life of religion dominated autistic array. It was in the nineteenth century,the German philosopher, Sir, Hegel summed up the dictum ‘the rational alone is real’. He was the one who viewed that the ‘state is the perfection ofreason on earth.’ This escorts the idea that the state conducting politics and serving as the embodiment of judgement by reason helped the separation of politics and religion. And thus, the nineteenth century gave way for the concept of state sovereignty in India. 5.-COMMUNALISM vs. SECULARISM IN HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY INDIA - ‘We are born neither secular nor communal but as neutral’ is the motive behind incorporating a non- western type of secularism in India.Basically, communalism has various manifestation like communal

8Otherwise called as List-III contains 52 items that includes the power to be considered by both Union government and various state governments to make laws for the country. 9 SECULARISM IN INDIA : CHALLENGES AND ITS FUTURE; Ranbir Singh and Karamvir Singh; The Indian Journal of Political Science; Vol. 69, No. 3 (JULY - SEPT., 2008), pp. 597-607 10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_religions#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMichaels200433-4 11 The dispute between the religious group as a result of the tragedy that caused a link between religion and the state (migration of Muslim refugees to Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs to India) that brought about religious confrontation.

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riot, communal ideology, communal policies, communal practices, etc. Thatevoked the scholars for understanding politics in India. Pre-independent India made nationalism, the counter ideology of communalism that in turn had transformed itself into secularism in the post-independent India. 12 Consequently, to understand politics in pre-independent India is to know the twisted relationship between nationalism and communalism whereas in post-independent India, it is secularism and communalism. Therefore, the twofold contradictories for the rise in communalism and problem of secularism is the religion embedded nationalism and religion denying secularism. The analysis on the history of communalism in India shows binary categories that is nationalism as progressive and communalism as reactionary. 13 Thus briefly, communalism is an attempt to maintain the status quo in the society rather than accommodating the aspirations of the deprived. In the contemporary India, secularism seems to be a conceptual, most debated issue. A state declaring itself to be secular does not mean a wall of separation between religion and politics. It is to be noted that,an important meaning of secularism is the absence of state religion wherein neutrality and impartiality is observed towards all religion. In India,emphasis on fundamental rights guaranteeing certain secular and religious rights and also protection against discrimination that are embedded in the constitution has been a major discourse of secularism. The constitutional explanation to the nature of secularism shifts from separation of religion and politics to the principle of religious tolerance. 14 The problem of secularism in India is simply because of its non-applicability of the model emerged in the west because in South-Asian countries, religion is the part and parcel of their life. However, the modern society is associated with capitalism and industrialisation and the establishment of democracy and the rights of citizens. 6.-RELIGION BASED POLITICS IN INDIA - Politics over religion dates back right from the incorporation of the word ‘secularism’ in the constitution. Prior to which was nationalism that caused for communalism but, politicization of religion starts increasing from here. In fact, when the father of our nation, Gandhi Ji talked about secularism, he was shown black flag; whereas when the then PM, Indira Gandhi Ji amended the constitution to add the same word, she was asked to elucidate what she meant.Today, the bitter truth is that, religion portend to great development of the society. 6.1 -JUDICIAL PERCEPTIONS OF SECULARISM IN INDIA - The had been interrupting the concept of secularism in different dimensions. The secular nature of the constitution was for the first time expressed in Sardar TaheruddinSyedna Saheb v. State of Bombay 15 (1962)wherein it was held that, the principle of religious tolerance embodied in Article 25 and 26 emphasised the secular nature of the Indian democracy.Then,in 1973, the famous and important landmark judgement Kesavanandha Bharati v. State of Kerala retreated secularism as the ‘basic structure’ of the constitution. Upholding the right of minority, in 1974, St. Xaviers College society v. State of ,forbye created conflicts between minority rights and secular principles thus excluding the minorities from the ambit of affirmative policies of the state. It was in Ziyauddin Burhanuddin Bukhari v. Brijmohan Ram Das Mehra 16 , the Supreme Court came to define the concept of secularism in utilitarian terms. However, the Indira Sawhney v. Union of India 17 followed this logic of neutrality in extending benefits to citizens based

12 ShabnumTejani, Indian Secularism, A Social and Intellectual History 1890- 1950, Ranikhet, Permanent Black, 2007. 13 Bipin Chandra, (1984), Communalism in Modern India, New Delhi, Vikas; Prabha Dixit,(1974), Communalism-A Struggle for Power, New Delhi, Orient Longman. 14 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/263010/6/06_chapter%201.pdf 15 AIR 1962 SC 853, 871. It is known as 'the Ex-communication case'. The genesis of such views can be traced to earlier decisions like Nain Sukh Das v. State of U.P. , AIR 1953 SC 384 wherein it was held that constitutional mandate against religious discrimination extends to political rights. 16 (1976) 2 SCC 17 17 1992 (3) SCC 217

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on all castes and creeds. S.R. Bommai v. Union of India 18 also declared secularism as a basic structure but the complication arose in formulating the definition. J. Ahmadi tended on Indira Sawhney and according to him it is ‘soft secularism’ (based on the principle of accommodation and tolerance); J Ramaswamy in his view explains that programs and principles evolved by political parties based on religion amounts to recognizing religion as a part of political governance which is prohibited by the constitution expressly. However, the court ruled that religion and temporal activities do not mix (court took the stand on western type of secularism). Further it said that ‘encroachment of religion in secular activities is strictly prohibited’. In 1994, Ismael Faruqui v. Union of India 19 diluted the active, positive concept of secularism based on scientific thinking and this trend was indicated in R.C.Podayal 20 . subsequently, in Ram Janambhoomi case , the court justified its concept of secularism from Indian scriptures like YajurVeda, Atharva Veda and Rig Veda. Here the court seemed to reject the concept of western type secularism and equated secularism with tolerance. However, the confusion stood confounded with the three cases known as ‘Hindutva Judgements’ 21 . And finally, in A.S. Narayana Deekshitulu v. State of A.P.22 , as per J. Ramaswamy’s quoting, the court held that secularism is a sense of toleration between people of different religion through ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhava’. At last, both religion and secularism demand different kinds of justice and many times it is difficult to translate too. Hence these dilemmas have to be negotiated through the deployment of imagination and creativity since, this is the nature of democratic political life. 6.2 -SECULARISM – BOON OR BANE TO THE NATION- It is factual and interesting to see that most of the religious practices are the gift of the ancient rather than a trait of the contemporary. From the viewpoint of an individual, freedom of religion is an opportunity for him to choose his God whereas from state point of view, it has to play the role of a mediator, to ensure that no impediment subsist between the individual and his faith. Secularism seems boon or bane depending on its understanding and conduct. It is boon if it is treated with its true meaning that our constitutional leaders portrayed. It is bane if it politicises over religions. However, in my view,the foremost cause for the prevailing and upcoming issues on secularism is the absence of stating the relation between religion and state; and also, the definition of secularism, in the Indian constitution. Now, I would mention some pros and cons of secularism that is been followed in India. 6.2.1-PROS ON INDIAN SECULARISM- -Doctrine of complex multi-value-To understand India’s secularism, we need to first know the cultural background and the social context in India wherein, three things have to be noticed that firstly, India is a country with huge population with distinctive religious communities which though may co-exist harmoniously, it might generate conflict over values. Secondly, in India, a person’s religious identity is defined by, what the individual has with and when compared to others rather than the content of belief. This make a greater emphasis on religious practice rather than belief system. Finally, many religiously sanctioned social practices are oppressive, that deny the dignity of life and self-respect. Therefore, looking India to be a liberal and egalitarian country, there need a reformation by the social power so called ‘the state’. Secularism acts as a tool to eradicate excessive influence of religion from society undermining religious orthodoxies, relieving individuals from the clutches of religion thereby empowering the people with rational life. Regarding India, secularism requires the state to maintain distance from religion for policy making. State secures the religious liberty allowing freedom of religion and in order to secure the values like equality and justice, the state intervenes in religiously sanctioned social customs. Therefore, as a reformative measure as well as the course of

18 1994 (3) SCC 1 19 (1994) 6 SCC 360 20 1994 Supp (1) 324 21 Ramesh Yashwant Prabhoo (Dr.) v. Prabhakar K. Kuntel , (1996) 1 SCC 130; Manohar Joshi v. Nitin Bhau Rao Patil , (1996) 1 SCC 169; Ramchandra K. Kapse v. Haribansh R. Singh , (1996) 1 SCC 206. 22 (1996) 9 SCC 548

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intervention, the Indian state made polygamy illegal, abolished child marriage, introducing temple entry for Dalits, introduced right to divorce, etc. In short, India is a complex Multi-valued country. -Secures the right of specific community- India triggers for uniform rights but the objective of secularism towards equal citizenship forces the state to secure the rights of each community. For example, the personal laws of each religious groups are secured in the state. In fact, the court had interpreted religion wholly on a rationalist standpoint and accordingly reforms are made. The court’s decision to grant alimony in Shah Bano case is justiciable since living a dignified life is fundamental. At the same time, the decision undermines the cultural survival of Muslims. But, for the sake of securing minority right, the Supreme court enacted a law that made provisions of Shariat, an integral part of secular law. On August 22 nd 2017, a landmark judgement was pronounced by the Supreme court that struck instant triple talaq declaring it as unconstitutional. 23 So, from these instances, we find that stronger emphasis is laid on universal and individual right instead of securing the community in specific. Therefore, secularism aims for real equality and cultural modernization and hence the government makes a progressive move towards Uniform Civil Code that is been guaranteed. -Follows the principle of principled distance -The principle of principled distance means the relation between religion and politics requires neither fusion nor dis-engagement. That is, the boundaries of religion and politics are distinct and each is valuable for its own right and respect. To understand principled distance, we must firstly know about political secularism and ethical secularism. 24 Political secularism justifies the separation of religion from politics either by excluding the ideals like democracy, equality from politics for the protection of ordinary life to rule out big evils. But ideals cannot be completely out of public sphere so, some competing and controversial ideals must be with the public sphere so that in the common space, it will be freely scrutinized by the public with reason. On the other hand, ethical secularism separates religion from politics for the sake of an ultimate ideal. This promotes the concept of togetherness. While political secularism upgrades the idea of living together, ethical secularism ensures living together well. Under conditions of conflicting diversities, ethical secularism focus on religious right and not on citizens right for the progress of the society which the political secularism does. An example of principled distance can be seen in Shah Bano case, wherein, though thedecision was justiciable, it undermined the cultural survival of Muslim. Another example is that, a ban on cow slaughter which satisfies the right of particular north-Indian Brahmin community and on the other side it is a respect to the for the boundaries of state and religion. It is to be noted that, abolishing personal laws and passing of Universal Civil Code will go against the ethos of religious freedom guaranteed in the constitution. Therefore, the principle of principled distance promotes secularism to be a strong sense of community feeling and secures the right of each religious community. 6.2.2-CONS ON INDIAN SECULARISM - -Misinterpretation of India’s composite culture- Culture is a belief system that determines the material, social and religious framework that are unified by common belief and values. India’s culture is idiosyncratic for its fusion of various religious traditions. It is religion that utters the distinctive value of a culture. As the name suggests, Hindu India, Buddhist Asia, Western Christendom or the Islamic society; spiritual traditions paid a fundamental role in shaping India’s society. The Dravidian, Aryan Hindu and the Muslim with the Turkish, Persian, and Mughal variations, defined the historical Indian culture.As per the Hindu communalist, Hindutva meant Hindu unity and were against all foreign influences like Christianity and Islam. However, in its truest sense Indian culture respects and includes the cultural combination of religious community. Eventually, this misinterpretation that,‘India’s composite culture emerged as a threat to secularism’ has to be ignored. -Communal riots-Communalism meant the functioning of religious communities, who claim to represent them in a way that is considered to be determinantal to the interest of other religious groups. Shaping politics in communal line is the very main cause for communal riot in India. The doctrine of

23 www.hindustantimes.com 24 Bharghav Rajeev, “The Distinctiveness of Indian Secularism”, in Srinivasan T.N ed. (2007), The Future of Secularism, New Delhi, Oxford University Press Publication, pp.21-23

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Hindu-rastra, resulted in the outbreak of major communal riots in the territory. Now, and Ram Janmabhoomi is made as a central symbol for unifying the Hindus and also mobilizing mass support of Hindus. But, on the other side, this resulted in the outbreak of several riots in India like demolition of Babari Masjid, communal riot in Mumbai, Gujarat riot followed by incident. Riot is a hateful mad and blind violence that killed thousands of lives including innocent children. ‘Operation Blue star’ by the Sikh community for ‘separatism’ is another notable intensity of communal riot. -Uniform Civil Code- We accept Uniform Criminal Law and why not Uniform Civil Law for the whole of India? Personal laws for Hindus and Muslims were framed during the period of British Raj. Starting from the 20 th century the Uniform Civil Code was demanded especially for women’s right, equality and secularism. Although women got their right to a large extent, Uniform Civil Code has not been achieved. Personal laws remain as a wall of hindrance to achieve UCC for the country. Regarding judiciary,there was a sudden change in the pronouncements that, till 1995, Sarala Mudgal v. Union of India, there was an urge in the need of implementing UCC. But right from 2000, Lily Thomas v. Union of India, there were inverse judgements saying it could not direct the centre to introduce UCC. As of now, an Indian who desires to move within the territory, he seems to carry his own law for himself based on his religion. So, for an individual, personal law plays a vital role in the modern India, more than any other laws of the country. This might have a greater impact in the society that resit the uniformity to be achieved, though India is popular for its multi-religious unity. Knowingly, India is a secular country and hence, the state does not interfere into the religious norms. This had caused different religion pose their own laws and for this reason, we couldn’t achieve uniformity. Another main reason for the non-achievement of Uniform Civil Code for India is that some cultural symbols of different religions are practiced at state function which promotes only one religion. For example, performance of Aarti, putting tilak over the forehead are Hindu rituals but, these are performed at state function. 6.3-PERSONAL NORMS INSTEAD OF PERSONAL LAWS – A STEP TOWARDS UNITY - Indian constitution places UCC in Article 44, under the chapter, Directive Principle of State Policy which is just an obligatory part which cannot be enforced in the court of law. To be noted, initially UCC sought to have been enshrined in Part III i.e. Fundamental Rights but, the constitutional assembly debate of 1948, decided to envisage it in the Directive Principle of State Policy (Part IV). Perhaps, it is because of this it seems, India is lacking to achieve UCC. However, the motive of UCC is to strike a balance between the protection of fundamental rights and religious principles of personal laws of distinct religious communities. 25 My opinion in this regard is that, nothing can be inflicted on the individual as a break from tradition. So, there must be a slow process of imposing UCC among the people. Here, I never say that, there must neither be personal laws nor secularism. Both are very essential for the well-being of the society, that too especially for a country with multi-religious amenity. But the fact is that personal laws creates diversification among the religious communities. Hence, India having multi-religious amenities, in order to protect the secular principles shall have personal norms instead of personal laws. The codified laws for Hindus, Muslims and Christians independently, create the issue of non-uniformity among the country. Therefore, as a reformative progress, there need an amendment removing certain provisions from the personal laws that foster religious sect. A proper social awareness and legitimate discussions can alone bring Uniform Civil Code, a success thereby achieving equality, unity and integrity of the nation and justice for men and women. Another thing important while implementing UCC is the minority religious groups, whose problems has to be carefully addressed. In this way, the country can make the dream of ‘One Nation’ come true.

25 http://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-685-uniform-civil-code-one-nation-one-code.html

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6.4-SECULARISM MADE REFORMS IN INDIA - India has seen instances of violence at different point of time in the name of different religion, against different religions and against different groups of people. This might be due to the virtue of law and not because of religious aversion. India’s secularism is in fact a pride of the nation and the citizens should be blissful to have faith in and follow religion of their own choice. It is we who promised to ourselves that we would live in brotherhood on the philosophy of Unity in Diversity. Unfortunately, today there are a number of cases in point that is against our swear. There are some mentions how people of different religion are ill treated at different occasions. 6.4.1-INSTANCES OF INTENSITY AGAINST HINDUISM 26 - No doubt India is a secular nation and constitutionally all are equal. However, there are discriminations based on religion. This demands an urgent need for strict enforceability of law in the country. In fact, the police officers who act as a cutting edge for eliminating terrorist, are framed in false cases ruining their lives and career. The judiciary is also targeted here. The ex-chief justice of India, J. Ranjan Gogoi and his bench was trolled for delivering the judgement for the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya.The anti-Hindu outfits support the illegal inducers from Bangladesh and Myanmar but never worried about the Kashmir refugees. As a result, these inducers are becoming channels for unlawful activities. It is sad that the Indian media refuse to screen it out. For example, the Islamic terrorist attacked the office of a popular newspaper, ‘the statesman’ in Kolkata due to the publication of an article that criticises Islamic extremism. But the Indian press remained silent. Over thousand years, Hindus are targeted and slaughtered by the Muslims and British,revealingthe prevalent of anti-Hindu mindset. 27 th February 2002, the Godhra train burning that killed nearly 60 were Hindu pilgrims; attack of Hindu temple killing a spiritual leader by the National Liberation Front of Tripura; In 2020, the banned Militant group HNLC threatened the Bengali Hindus to leave Ichamati and Majai regions in Meghalaya; The Punjab insurgency Operation Blur Star leading to Hindu deaths are some examples that showcases the in India.Thus,to put an end, the Indian government should stop the illegal inducers from Bangladesh, ban Madrassas and Polygamy, enforce Uniform Civil Code, and Indian media should be honest to report the anti-Hindu atrocities and to address the religious racism.Importantly, the enforceability of law has to be strict. 6.4.2-INSTANCES OF INTENSITY AGAINST OTHER RELIGIONS - USCIRF as per the report of 2020, placed India as Tier-1 in minority persecution along with countries like China, North Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.27 ‘Religious violence has been seen as a tactic used to meet political ends.’ says, the Human Rights Watch organisation. Western India is likely to be prompt for Christian brutality. Kashmir, 25 th May, 2012 reporting undefined arsonists set fire to a Catholic Church; the first half of 2016 is noted for more crimes against Christians in Uttar Pradesh than any other states; recent years sees the burn of churches in the National Capital of Delhi 28 for example, St. Sebastian’s Church that was burnt, the incident on 5 th May, 2018.29 In June 2000, four churches around India were bombed; September 2008 was notable for the partly damage of two churches in Kerala; St. George Church in Mumbai being attacked by masked persons, Church under construction that was vandalised in Haryana in 2015, clearly telecast theintense behaviour against Christian community around India. Besides, Hindu-Muslim conflict were subject to sectarian violence right from the past. However, it became more systematic with the rise in Hindu-nationalism, post the demolition of 430-year-old Babri Masjid as a state-sanctioned program. Of course, the act won’t be appreciable since it tears down the Muslim community creating a hatred feeling among the religious groups. The partition of 1947 turned out into a religious conflict. Since then, there had been hundreds of religious riots killing thousands of

26 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/my-voices/secularism-and-hindu-phobia-18892/ 27 “Religious Freedom: USCIRF report downgrades India for ‘Violations’” – The Indian Express, 29 th April 2020. Earlier in 2017, it was placed as Tier-2. 28 Protest against fire in delhi church, police investigate possible Arsson”; ndtv.com 29 “there should be a temple here”: Vandalism Hits St Stephen’s College; ndtv.com

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people over the nation. The Godhra train burning incident leading to 2002, Gujarat riot killed a large number of Muslims and a lot were still missing. Moreover, the citizenship law as against Muslim effected to a major protest (February 2020, North East Delhi riot), wherein more than 40 were dead and hundreds were injured creating a major crisis. Finally, large scale religious violence and riot periodically occurred in India since Independence. Right from the partition of 1947, major instances like 1969 Gujarat riot, 1984 Anti-Sikh riot, Bhagalpur riot of 1989, 1989 Kashmir violence, Godhra train burning, 2002 Gujarat riot and 2013 Muzaffarnagar riot 30 shows less hope for the refugees and the migrants to India. Therefore, the above cited instances against various religious community is only due to the virtue of law and its week enforceability. It should not be wrongly interpreted as brutality among the communities as an impact of personal hated notion as against secularism. As a reform, the enforceability of law must be made strict and accurate so that peace exists in the country. 7.-TIME TO DEFEND INDIA’S SECULARISM- Coexistence between religious identity and democratic politics is definitely challenging but this does not suggest secularism as not good. Rather, secularism does not tell people how to lead their lives and the purpose to strive for. It caused for the major issues on secularism,due to which, an ideology can be practiced only if we know about it clearly. Since there is no precise definition of what is a ‘secular’ state, different countries stick to different models of secularism. For instance, 31 UK has an independent established state religion, but still other religions are rather not discriminated against. Besides, French model is considered to be the extreme form of secularism where religious symbols like headscarves cannot be worn in public schools. On the other hand, US adopted the concept of ‘wall of separation between church and the state’. Whereas, in India the government would have the ability to interfere with and regulate religious institutions especially Hindu temples. Therefore, all these countries are named to be secular, but there is an inconsistency in the format that is been adopted in each of these nations.And,this leads the way for secular issues particularly in the republican India. The citizenship amendment act of 2019 put India’s secular structure under profound crisis. It laid down criteria, that goes against the premise of common citizenship that is regardless of discrimination based on caste, creed, cultural ethnicities, etc. revealing the failure of economic justice. It is conspicuously apparent that it is against the spirit of the constitution and the basic structure doctrine. Moreover, it is violation of human rights and also it seeks to impose politics and the philosophy of Hindutva on our entire people. Thus, it is high time that India’s secularism, as proposed by the nation pioneer, is under threat that it is much fragile and is eroding promptly and the country is in urgent need to sort out the issues especially by reasoning in order to defend the nations secularism saving the future India from further violence and shield the country for ‘Unity and Integrity’. 8.-CONCLUSION- In conclusion, it is a sad reality that India is at the fourth position in the world for religious violence.Secularism, takes the stand of evolving ideology with varied meaning for different people at different times in different places. Hence, it is important to determine the way in which religion is understood in that society. It is not to be inferred that, religion and secularism are rival to each other. Rather the relationship stands strong by its understanding and a universal acceptance of definite proper meaning of the ideology and the operation of the same.

30 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_violence_in_India 31 https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/secularism-in-india-always-meant-that-government-would- have-the-ability-to-regulate-religious-institutions/647248

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9.-SUGGESTION- Accordingly, the paper suggests some reformations that reinstate the secular issues across the nation.  The definition of ‘secularism’ isthe need of hour to be adopted in order to promulgate the secular aspiration.  Here, Article 25(2)(b) needs an amendment in view of secularism. Wherein, it gives public character for Hindu religious institution alone.  2005, the election commission declared that there should be no political party with names having religious contention to be registered since 2005. Accordingly, there were no such formation. Butthis did not have any retrospective effect that, such parties formed the government based on religion were not laid down to change the name or symbol of the party. However, that doesn’t make much effect. But sadly, the persons in the party strive only for the growth of their party’s religious intent whichhas to be avoided for the purpose upholding Secularism.  Religious violence arising through social mediaalso needs to be addressed and curtailed or stopped. Unless, this might destruct the “Unity and Integrity of the nation”much faster.  The ultimate aim of attaining the secular-state for India is through achieving Uniform Civil Code in PART IV – Article 44 of the Constitution of India.On par with IPC, CPC, Cr. P.C, etc. we may have a uniform code for personal laws and separate acts for state interpretations. To be clear with,IPC, CPC, Cr.P.C,etc., are central governing laws which are subject to state amendments. Likewise, we mayfix the personal laws under a single code governed by the central government and under which there may be state acts that contain laws for the particular state religion, subject to state amendment. In this way, Uniform Civil Code can be achieved. Thus, a uniform code or a uniform law can be attained by customising personal norms instead of personal laws for the concern state.

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